EPISODE 121 - Perfect: LIVE!

[Cam Bert 8145]

When someone is called a sphincter or in this case a sphincter muscle(which is slightly redundant as a sphincter is a muscle and the is no such thing as a non-muscle sphincter) the obvious implication is that someone is trying to be witting in calling someone else an asshole. Wrong. The human body contains over 50 sphincters. It's simply a constricted muscle that opens when relaxed. Other examples of　sphincters are the urethra, esophagus, either end of your stomach, your iris and yes the colon and anus. So remember, an asshole is a sphincter muscle but not all sphincter muscles are assholes.

[Joven 373]

Just a few quick things cause thats all this movies worth.

 

"Oh gee, my car battery is dead and I need you to jumpstart my car so I cant just drive away from the creepy invasive douche all up in my grill. My car is such an unreliable heap in fact that this will actually be the only time in the entire movie that its unreliability will ever come up, or even be mentioned as a way to justify this encounter."

 

Is the impression I'm supposed to get during the simulated sex aerobics class, that JLC altered her routine to be more sexual in an attempt to flirt with Travolta? Because thats kinda what it seems like, and yeah, I guess its working as a way to flirt with Travolta, but if anyone wants to bother going back and watching that again, it seems to be working way more on the black lady on the row in front of Travolta. She is way more into it than basically anybody else in the movie is into anything.

 

In a rare bit of complimenting the movie on actual competence, since I didn't want to really watch the sweaty aerobics I was specifically looking in the multitude of mirrors to see if I could catch a glimpse of the camera crew. And maybe its just my eyes + my tv, but I don't think I ever saw them. So it seems like they kinda got at least one thing right.

 

Also I know they kinda mentioned in the episode, but I really can't get over how when he's pitching his story to his editor he presents it as a new novel idea, and the editor agrees and really likes it. Then about the first thing JLC says to him is like "god, are you doing ANOTHER one of those 'gyms are the singles clubs of the 80s' stories?" He's certainly a pioneering force in his field.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Hey, how about that random black guy who shows up twice in the movie when he keeps punching John Travolta in the gut over one of the articles regarding someone who was close to that man. I don't know what his problem is with Travolta but since it's been so long since I've last seen the film over three years ago, I couldn't even figure out why!

 

I think what's going on, and I could be wrong, was Lawrence was looking for a "character witness" for his McKenzie story and Shotsy, the female exotic dancer, was willing to be interviewed on McKenzie's behalf. As it turns out, she has nothing but nice things to say about McKenzie, even going so far as to tell Adam that McKenzie bought her house for her. Now, I'm not entirely sure who the man who hits Lawrence is in relation to her (I'm guessing boyfriend), but he wants her name out of the article as it may reflect poorly on her or bring unwanted trouble (e.g. more reporters hounding her, etc). It's basically the same journalism paranoia that Jessie complains about throughout the movie, although his rationale isn't as fleshed out. Maybe he's afraid the story will implicate her in whatever shady dealings McKenzie was up to, or maybe he's afraid Adam's article will make her seem like a prostitute, I'm not really sure. I don't even think he's all that upset she's being interviewed, he just wants her name kept out of it. But, lo and behold, once the article comes out, Adam not only uses her name, he has an almost full page, head shot of her just smiling away.

 

I think what the movie is (ineffectively) trying to convey, is that Wenner's paraphrase of Oscar Wilde ("The only thing worse than being written about is, is not being written about.") is, in the movie's opinion, simply untrue--especially when it comes to people who aren't celebrities and aren't seeking publicity. This movie proposes that the "Perfect" journalist is someone who has the integrity to always tell the truth, but also the compassion to know when to withhold some of that truth. That is what Jessie is angry about and that is why this man punches Travolta...and I think the movie did a fantastic job illustrating this...

 

[RyanSz 3140]

Sam Rockwell needs to come into every scene he's in ever like that.

[NicholasOnuszkanycz 2]

Liquid nitrogen ice cream has been making a comeback in the states. There is a chain of these stores that opened near me.

My kids love it. Not only is it pretty freaking delicious, but it is very cool to watch being created. Plus if a T-1000 is hunting you, you could give yourself a good hour headstart by opening up one of the liquid nitrogen tanks on Robert Patrick.

 

https://www.subzeroicecream.com/store-locator/?wpsl-search-input=35756#wpsl-search-wrap

[JimF 1]

I used to watch The 20-Minute Workout instead of The Great Space Coaster before school when I was in 7th grade. Very inspiring, I left the house focused and eager to learn.

 

[faye-raye 109]

In the thrusting scene on youtube I became obsessed with the guy behind Travolta. He was getting into it a little too much

[RyanSz 3140]

Just realized that all of the 80s workout videos and a crapton of movies covered by the show are the inspiration to about 70% of the Brazzers network.

[CiciRude 13]

Great episode all around...one missing piece might be that the end credits didn't really surprise me with it's mugging to the camera, antics, etc because I think that this movie was originally supposed to be a romantic comedy and have a goofy, comedic tone overall. How else to explain all the comedic actresses being cast? Marilu Henner, Anne De Salvo and Lorraine Newman all were mostly known for the comedies on their resume at the time.

And when Jann Wenner's character reacts to John Travolta's pitch in the restaurant, he's grinning and says, "It will be hilarious!" Clearly, they lost the tone along the way & tried to salvage it with the end credits.

 

And it's pronounced Wenner as in Jenner not Whiner (Seth...) and not Warner/Werner (Paul....) (Jason got it correct.)

[WayneMiller 37]

Also, I now wonder if Eric Prydz's "Call on Me" Music Video has something to do reference wise with "Perfect"?

 

NSFW warning!

 

 

 

See you and raise you this:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qQMPDgaWtE

 

You're welcome!

 

(these guys are friends of mine...)

 

Also, great episode.

[JasonSinclair 1]

Hey everyone,

 

Big fan of the podcast. This was the first live episode I was able to attend and it was amazing.

 

I had a question, but unfortunately I was not one of the lucky few called upon (there were a LOT of people there). But I wanted to give my alternate name for the movie and ask my question all the same.

 

My name is Jason (sad I missed out on the possible name love from Zukes).

 

Alternate title: Pelvic Thrust Issues

 

During John Travolta's tour of the club, when he's being told about Jessie, he's told that she is "probably the best FEMALE aerobics instructor we have". Are we to believe that somewhere, never seen on camera, there is some dude running aerobics classes that can top the amazing classes Jessie runs? I find this very unlikely, as we all know how awesome her classes are. We even got to see an entire one in the movie. I call bullsh*t.

 

Thanks for the hours of entertainment, you guys rock!!

[Darbler Cheesegarbler 1110]

This was just great from beginning to end. Mantzoukas losing it was great. I hope if they do another All Stars episode in the near future, they strongly consider Seth Morris.

[EllenM 943]

This is an obscenely long post and I do apologize for it. There was just so much good stuff this week!

 

I do want to point out what a fucking star June has been recently...I was listening to some of the summer where June was missing, and it just really drove home how wonderful she is.

 

Theory for you guys: I've always though that June says crazy shit and Jason makes fun of her for it. But I had a thought this week. When they're talking about the gangbang girl at the party or whatever, June says gangbang girl (from context in the episode, I'm assuming this was "Lorraaaaaiiiine Neeewwwwwwmmmmaaaannnnnnn"?) is "giving him the facts" and doing the reporting. I'm now thinking she just comes up with crazy shit to say just to wind Jason up and not the other way around. Which is amazing. What do y'all think?

 

June's been top shelf lately. High point moments for me include her love of movies that take place in the sky, her fear that robots have hijacked her media devices and her curiousity at just what exactly makes those turtles "mutants". Also the sick reply that she was in fact married to a man who would ask a layered TMNT question. When she said "giving the facts", I snorted with laughter which made other bus passengers glare at me.

 

Before she would say something, the guest would attempt a (logical) explanation then Jason would interrupt the guest like "NO, wait for it. June, you were saying...?" I think June has embraced her June-ness and is more willing to run with a concept and we are all the better for it

 

 

Which brings up a question I'm wondering if someone can answer:

 

So Adam refuses to give up the tapes, is held in contempt of court, and is thrown in jail. The trial finishes, he's released. What about the implication that whatever those tapes held could have changed the verdict?

 

Is it totally normal that if you're held in contempt of court and jailed for not providing requested evidence, you're released as soon as the trial is over?

 

That seems oddly bonkers to me.

 

But then again I don't know nothin' about anything.

 

I'm not sure how it works in California (also didn't watch the movie, so I'm not sure about the timeline). I would imagine there are specific precedents regarding Freedom of the Press cases about evidence/informants. For something like a contempt of court charge, probably he or his boss posted bail, he wouldn't just be let go without charges being dealt with/dropped. If it was done literally within a day, that is insane. From what I gather, this case would have taken days if not a week(s) to run properly.

 

I decided to post before i read all of the thread - DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.

 

Okay now I'm going to read the thread and like all your posts.

 

You almost had me pull out my shaming gifs. Watch yourself, counsellor

 

 

Alternate title: Pelvic Thrust Issues

 

During John Travolta's tour of the club, when he's being told about Jessie, he's told that she is "probably the best FEMALE aerobics instructor we have". Are we to believe that somewhere, never seen on camera, there is some dude running aerobics classes that can top the amazing classes Jessie runs? I find this very unlikely, as we all know how awesome her classes are. We even got to see an entire one in the movie. I call bullsh*t.

 

Thanks for the hours of entertainment, you guys rock!!

 

Phenomenal title. If there was a male equivalent to JLC in this movie, it would be Brad Pitt's character from Burn After Reading

 

 

Correction: When Jamie Lee Curtis is leading the aerobics class, she IS calling out the next moves. The music is over-top of all the dialogue, maybe some of the same sound issues plaguing the rest of the movie. You can see her mouthing "2-3-4" a number of times and she uses her arms to direct everyone to get into a squat then later to one side to start a new move.

[souprman 10477]

you guys are not going to believe who's on SPONT this week.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

you guys are not going to believe who's on SPONT this week.

YES! She was on the Wild Horses show on Howl and was so delightful. I can't wait to hear her with PFT!

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I enjoyed reading everyone's posts but I myself have nothing to contribute because I didn't watch this week and I'm deciding to skip this one indefinitely.

 

Is it Wednesday yet? Can I just goof around yet?

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

Sam Rockwell needs to come into every scene he's in ever like that.

"Moon" didn't have nearly enough of that. Sure, he's essentially alone the entire time, but still...

[OoofMaGOOF 348]

I'm not sure how it works in California (also didn't watch the movie, so I'm not sure about the timeline). I would imagine there are specific precedents regarding Freedom of the Press cases about evidence/informants. For something like a contempt of court charge, probably he or his boss posted bail, he wouldn't just be let go without charges being dealt with/dropped. If it was done literally within a day, that is insane. From what I gather, this case would have taken days if not a week(s) to run properly.

 

Ah yes, truth be told I didn't factor in Freedom of the Press...

 

Paul, maybe you can have Nate be awesome and get us some info on this?

[BrynHerrin 0]

You all made mention of the male exoctic dancer and his terrible routine as well as his attire of just a jock strap. My ommission would be how can you not talk about the butthole exposure! One must think of this on two levels. One being, that of the character as an exoctic dancer prancing, kicking, and thrusting with flashes of butthole flying around. Did women in '85 at Chip n Dales find this attractive;a man grinding on a woman across the room and all you see from the other side is his Brown Eye. The second being, that of the poor actor, having to do this all day for who knows how long, take after take in just a jock and the poor extras having to looks enthused for this and contantly getting a shot the man's ballon-knot.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Two final thoughts on Perfect:

 

First of all, when Mustachioed Man is given Adam a tour of the Sports Connection, Adam asks, "Do you have a bar onsite?" The MM replies, "No--you have to get a beer off site" or something to that effect. What made this exchange stick out to me though is what a bizarre question that is. Who's ever heard of a bar at a gym? However, according to iMDB trivia:

 

Based on the famous Sports Connection (a giant up-scale athletic facility in West Los Angeles that also contains a restaurant and bar), which was known in the late 1970s and 1980s for its singles scene.

 

Why was the movie, that was being filmed at the actual Sports Connection, being so coy about having a bar onsite? I mean, I get that you can't exactly have Travolta ask if "health clubs are the singles bars of the eighties" and have MM say, "Yeah, and it's right over there," but you would think if they were going to lie about it, it would be for dramatic purposes. For example, if the movie was hiding this fact so Travolta's character would have to dig really deep to get to the seedy underbelly of Health Spas, but that's not the case either--everyone is more than willing to talk to him about hooking up at the gym. I just found this to be so odd..

 

The second thing I wanted to bring up has to do with the male stripping scene. I know they talked about Travolta conducting the interview within a closet, but was anyone else asking themselves, "Why is he interviewing someone at a strip club?" Unless your article is on either stripping or strip clubs, that doesn't seem very conducive and would be terribly distracting. It's not like at this point in the movie the article's deadline is an issue either; could Travolta and Newman honestly not come up with a better time and place to do the interview? "Oh Adam, I'd love to be interviewed for Rolling Stone! I know the perfect place we can meet--you might want to bring some extra cash with you though..."

[Cameron H. 23786]

I enjoyed reading everyone's posts but I myself have nothing to contribute because I didn't watch this week and I'm deciding to skip this one indefinitely.

 

Is it Wednesday yet? Can I just goof around yet?

 

Look, it's a serious breach of forum protocol to start the goofing before Wednesday, but if you got the goods--bring it!

 

 

 

[Cam Bert 8145]

The second thing I wanted to bring up has to do with the male stripping scene. I know they talked about Travolta conducting the interview within a closet, but was anyone else asking themselves, "Why is he interviewing someone at a strip club?" Unless your article is on either stripping or strip clubs, that doesn't seem very conducive and would be terribly distracting. It's not like at this point in the movie the article's deadline is an issue either; could Travolta and Newman honestly not come up with a better time and place to do the interview? "Oh Adam, I'd love to be interviewed for Rolling Stone! I know the perfect place we can meet--you might want to bring some extra cash with you though..."

The sad thing is I thought about that while watching the film, and then answered it in my own head and just accepted that as an implicit fact. Since Adam fell in love with Jessie, he wouldn't be writing about her in the piece. He still needs a main subject for his piece though. Seeing as Linda and Sally lived together and frequented the gym why not make the piece a profile on them. Also it's a good juxtaposition in a way to see one woman, Sally, who found love at the gym and another, Linda, still looking for it. While interviewing Linda was part of the reason for going to the strip club it also provided him with information about Sally and her boyfriend. Killing two birds with one stone kind of deal. I'm not a journalist nor have I ever written an article about anything, so I might be off base on all of that.

[Cameron H. 23786]

The sad thing is I thought about that while watching the film, and then answered it in my own head and just accepted that as an implicit fact. Since Adam fell in love with Jessie, he wouldn't be writing about her in the piece. He still needs a main subject for his piece though. Seeing as Linda and Sally lived together and frequented the gym why not make the piece a profile on them. Also it's a good juxtaposition in a way to see one woman, Sally, who found love at the gym and another, Linda, still looking for it. While interviewing Linda was part of the reason for going to the strip club it also provided him with information about Sally and her boyfriend. Killing two birds with one stone kind of deal. I'm not a journalist nor have I ever written an article about anything, so I might be off base on all of that.

 

Yeah, I get that, and I think you are absolutely right. I just don't get what the benefit of doing it at the strip club is, like, what is Travolta really getting out of it that he doesn't already know? On his initial tour of the Sports Connection, Mustache Man tells Travolta right away that Roger is a stripper, so how does watching him strip benefit his story about health clubs being "the singles bars of the Eighties?" If anything, it seems to undermine his premise:

 

And so it was, after spending all day at the Health Club--the singles bar of the Eighties--everyone piled into their vehicles, got dressed up, and drove across town...to an actual club and actual bar.

[jarrycanada 2483]

I knew it ! " Amazon sues to stop phony five-star product reviews" now it all makes sense.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Just heard about the Gilmore Girls revival on Netflix. Seeing as Kumail got on the new X Files series, should we begin our campaign to get Jason on Gilmore Girls?

 

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/10/19/gilmore-girls-reunion-netflix